Vale Mikhail Gorbachev; Jim Chalmers signals cost of living relief in October budget

With the jobs and skills summit just a few days away, the real game is next month's federal budget where Treasurer Jim Chalmers will be under pressure to deliver economic reform and relief from the rising cost of living.

But those options are limited despite the good intentions at the summit especially as the economy creaks under a trillion dollars of debt.

Also tributes flow for Mikhail Gorbachev the final president of the Soviet Union credited with ending the Cold War.

I speak on ABC Newsradio